Love Drives In (15 page)

'He will hear of this dinner,' she thought. 'He will know I sat here and heard him abused.'

She was in agony, but she was still trapped.

At last the evening was over. As he saw her to her carriage, Mr. Johnson said,

"Sleep well tonight. We have a very big day ahead of us tomorrow. In fact – "

He broke off. Dorina frowned, wondering at a suppressed excitement in his manner.

"What is it?" she asked. "What were you going to say?"

"Nothing, nothing. Just something I planned – well, I'm hoping for – it's very unlikely but miracles do happen."

"Won't you tell me what it is?"

"No, that would be unlucky. Let's just wait and see. Goodnight."

He stepped back quickly, signalling her driver to start, so that she was unable to ask him any more.

All the way home Dorina was puzzling about his strange words and even stranger manner.

'He's normally such a businesslike man,' she thought. 'Suddenly he seems to have taken off on a flight of fancy. I wonder what he's keeping up his sleeve.'

The exhilaration of the day stayed with her until she had gone to bed. But then, in the darkness and silence, she remembered the Earl and the feel of his kisses came back to her.

'How is it possible,' she asked herself, 'that a kiss could be so wonderful that, in some strange way, I can still feel in my heart what I felt at that moment?

'Where is he now? What is he doing? Is he thinking of me?'

As she shut her eyes and tried to go to sleep, she felt that her heart was breaking.

'There is no way back for me now,' she thought. 'I should have stayed in London. I love him, I love him. If he wanted me, I would still be prepared to go on being his secretary.'

But then she knew that was not true.

She had to keep faith with the people who relied on her.

She wanted to show her father, if he was watching, that she could be as good as any son he might have had.

'That is my duty in the future,' she thought. 'If I am lonely then I can merely cry at night as I am crying now, because I have known love and lost it.'

On that thought she fell asleep.

Next morning she dressed in clothes that were severe but fashionable. All the way to the factory she was remembering Mr. Johnson's strange excitement, and wondering what it meant.

The great workshop was festive. Down one wall were long tables set with food and wine.

In the centre of the floor stood the horseless carriage, surrounded by a rope barrier. Four men, one at each corner, were on guard to prevent spectators from coming too close.

"Are we ready to start?" she asked Mr. Johnson.

"Not quite," he said. "There'll need to be a small delay while we wait for the guest of honour."

If anything, Mr. Johnson's excitement was even more pronounced than ever.

"But who is the guest of honour? You never mentioned him before."

"That is because I wasn't sure he would come. Even now I won't believe it until I see him coming through that door, although I was sent a most encouraging message – "

"Mr. Johnson," Dorina said patiently. "Who are you talking about?"

"Why, the Prince of Wales, of course," he said in a hushed voice.

"You cannot mean that."

"But of course. It is well known that the Prince is avid to own the first horseless carriage. And when he buys one, the whole of society will follow."

"But he surely cannot mean to come here?"

"He is currently paying a visit to the Marquis of Glandon, who lives only five miles from here. I sent a message to Glandon Towers, inviting the Prince to a special presentation.

"I knew there was only a faint chance that he would accept such a late invitation, but it was a risk worth taking. And I've had a message in return to say that he will come 'if possible'."

Dorina stared.

"Are you serious?"

"Absolutely, I swear it. I didn't say anything before because I didn't think it would happen. He still might not arrive, but suppose he did – "

"Mr. Johnson you are a genius," Dorina said, awed. "If the Prince buys one of our vehicles we will lead the revolution."

She stopped as a thought came to her.

It was Mr. Johnson's turn to be awed.

"That is brilliant," he said. "I can see you have a natural talent for this business, Miss Radford."

"And even if the Prince doesn't come, we can still make him the gift," she mused. "Of course, it would be better if he did come. Do we have any newspapers here, by the way?"

"Oh yes, several. In some cases the editor himself has insisted on being present. This is a big moment, and nobody wants to miss it."

"But they don't know about the Prince?"

"Oh no. I've kept that possibility a secret, because if he doesn't arrive we would look foolish."

"But how can we begin? Protocol dictates that nothing starts until royalty has arrived, but if we don't know when, or if, he's coming – "

"I think things are already happening, whether we're ready or not," Mr Johnson said, eyeing the throng that was growing every moment. "The customers, the reporters, they're all hanging around the carriage, each one trying to sneak a better look than his neighbours."

"Then we must go and talk to them, and His Royal Highness must take his chances," Dorina said firmly.

Things could not be going better, but there was a little ache in her heart that she knew she must suppress.

With her head high, Dorina made a stately entrance, knowing that all eyes were upon her. Today was the day she would honour dear Papa, and make him proud of her.

A group of them converged on her, begging for some kind of statement. She replied by stressing her father's achievements and how proud he would be on this day.

Suddenly a buzz went round the crowd. There was a commotion at the entrance, the great double doors were pulled back wide enough to allow a coach and horses to be driven through.

"He's here," Mr. Johnson hissed in her ear.

The next moment a cheer went up as everyone in the crowd recognised the Prince of Wales.

He descended from the carriage, followed by his host, the Marquis of Glandon, and various other followers.

In a daze, Dorina came forward and curtsied. The Prince drew her to her feet and smiled directly into her eyes.

"Miss Radford, what a pleasure to meet you again. I had heard you were abroad, but I had a strange feeling that you had returned quite recently."

Then he winked.

If Dorina had any doubts that he had recognised her at the theatre, they were dispelled by his next words, uttered in a low voice.

"We must have a little talk before I leave. I'm alive with curiosity."

"As Your Royal Highness pleases," she murmured.

Then to the breathless delight of the spectators, the Prince became absorbed in the carriage and demanded to be driven on a short trip.

He was assisted into the passenger seat and everyone stood back while the engine was cranked up. Then the carriage moved slowly round the shed and out into the yard. The Prince smiled broadly all the time.

"You can," said a voice behind them.

An icy hand seemed to clutch Dorina's heart. Oh, surely it could not be true. It could not be –

Frozen with horror, she turned and found herself looking at the Earl, who stood there, his eyes filled with bitterness and fury.

Her heart almost stopped and for a moment she was unable to speak. He saw this, and his lip curled with contempt.

"Good day to you,
Miss Radford,"
he said. "I trust matters are going well for you."

"I – very well, thank you," she stammered.

"I can't tell you how
unexpected
it is to find you here. But perhaps it should not have been unexpected. Maybe a sensible man would have guessed the truth long ago."

"Please – if you'll only let me explain – "

"But my dear Miss Radford, no explanation is necessary. Now I know your true identity, I see that everything that happened was inevitable. One who carries such responsibilities as yours can be forgiven if she forgets a few other things – like truth, honour and fair dealing."

Incensed at hearing his employer spoken to thus, Mr. Johnson took a step forward and said hotly,

"Sir, I don't know who you are but – "

"Then I am sure Miss Radford will be only too happy to tell you," the Earl said with a cold smile.

"This is the Earl of Kennington," Dorina told Mr Johnson.

His eyes widened in outrage.

"Calm yourself," the Earl told him. "If I looked closely at your horseless carriage, I doubt if I would find many things I had not seen before. Is that not so, Miss Radford?"

"Whatever does he mean?" Mr. Johnson asked her.

"He means," replied Dorina stormily, "to be insulting. You need not think I don't understand you, sir."

"I was sure you would for I know you are very clever. Of course, just how clever is something I didn't appreciate until now. My compliments, madam. You have achieved a considerable trick. You took me in totally, and that was something I had not believed possible. Good day to you."

He inclined his head and turned away. Dorina stared after him, feeling furious and wretched at the same moment.

On the one hand she felt she could not blame him for what he was thinking. But on the other hand, she had a temper and it was rising now. How
dare
he think such things of her, however it looked?

Eyes glittering with anger, she turned and laid her hand on Mr. Johnson's arm and walked away with him.

After that she said and did all the right things, but she was functioning like a robot, for her mind was elsewhere. Vaguely she was conscious that the day was a triumph, but what did that matter beside the fury and betrayal she had seen in the Earl's eyes?

At last the Prince took her aside, as he had promised. With a chuckle in his voice, he said,

"That wasn't a real faint, was it? My guess is that Kennington didn't know who you were, and you were afraid I would give you away. Well, I probably would have done, so you were rather clever."

"Thank you, Your Royal Highness."

"Sir, I was not spying on him. I merely went to work for him to learn about business. And then," Dorina added forlornly, "everything went wrong."

"He fell in love with you. Surely that's something that went right?"

"He's not in love with me, sir."

The Prince chuckled.

"I know better. He couldn't take his eyes off you when he should have been looking at the stage. I know that because I was watching your box myself. Mostly I looked at you, but whenever I looked at him,
he
was looking at
you
."

Despite everything her heart leapt with instant happiness. Then she remembered what was happening, and knew she would never be happy again.

"It is no use, sir," she said. "He thinks the worst of me, and now he always will. I didn't spy on him, but he won't believe me. Everything is over between us."

The Prince of Wales considered.

"Maybe not," he said. "Who knows what may happen?
Why, look who's here!"

Startled at his sudden exclamation, Dorina looked up to find the Earl standing before them. His face was hard as he surveyed her in conversation with the Prince.

"Kennington, my dear fellow," the Prince exclaimed jovially, seizing the Earl by the hand and pumping it up and down, apparently oblivious to the freezing atmosphere.

"I must admit, I didn't expect to see you here," His Royal Highness continued. "Into the lions' den, so to speak. Did you have to fight your way past the guards?"

"Ah, you want to sell me your own vehicle. But is it ready, my dear chap?"

"Yes, sir, it is. I was preparing to have just such a day as this and to invite you to it. I venture to say that my horseless carriage can do anything that the Radford model can achieve. I believe it to be faster, stronger and far more reliable."